The Phillies had a busy Friday. Around noon they traded shortstop Freddy Galvis to the Padres, and just a few hours later they surprised everyone by making a major free agent signing. They took Carlos Santana off the board and signed him to a three-year, $60 million contract.
The Phillies signed Carlos Santana, and they’re ready to do more
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at the newly frisky Phillies, the absurdity of a Manny Machado trade, and how to trust the process.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
If you’re wondering where Santana might play for the Phillies, you’re not the only one. Since the Phillies can’t avail themselves of the designated hitter, the only place he can play is first base. (It’s been a few years since Santana has been a catcher, and he has no plans to go back.) That pushes Rhys Hoskins, a natural first baseman and the owner of a bunch of home run records, off of first base and over to left field. The Phillies had Hoskins playing left field when he made his major league debut (and shortly before) because they wanted his bat in the lineup but had nowhere to put him.
Hoskins moving back to left field, where he didn’t stink but never looked entirely comfortable, means that someone who already had an outfield position locked up doesn’t anymore. Logically, it’s either Aaron Altherr or Nick Williams, who have been handling the corner outfield spots. (Odubel Herrera plays centerfield, but he’s not as easily replaced as either Altherr or Williams.) But the question is this: why? The Phillies have a promising young outfield and a promising young infield. Why bring Santana aboard to disrupt all of that?
There’s more than one answer to that question, but they’re both pretty simple. First, the Phillies probably want to send a message to other free agents that they’re ready to spend and to get serious about competing, and signing Santana does that. And second, the only reason you sign someone and end up with an odd man out is to trade that odd man out. The Phillies need starting pitching if they hope to look even remotely competitive in 2018, and the free agent market doesn’t have much to offer them. We have no clue who they’re targeting, but you can bet that either Williams or Altherr will be part of that package.
After years of bare-bones one-year free agent deals, the Phillies have announced that they’re ready to be serious about signing talent again. And they’re ready to be taken seriously, too.
- Bryan Joyner at Over the Monster has a message for Red Sox fans who are bummed that their team didn’t go after Giancarlo Stanton and might be trading Jackie Bradley Jr: trust the process.
- Javy Baez has been staying in shape over the offseason by farming. Actually farming. He uses the farm for both exercise and as an actual farm. It’s delightful.
- With Carlos Santana now a member of the Phillies, the Indians are in need of a new first baseman.
- Every MLB team is getting a $50 million payment from the sale of BAMTech to Disney, and I wonder what they’ll each do with it. Diamond-studded office furniture, perhaps?
- The Dodgers are interested in a Japanese pitcher *not* named Shohei Ohtani or Yu Darvish. His name is Yoshihisa Hirano, and he’s hoping to jump to MLB at age 34.
- Luis Valbuena had a difficult first half last year, but his second half gives Halos Heaven hope that he’ll be back to his old self in 2018 — bat flips and all.
- The Giants needed money to spend on a hitter, so they traded pitcher Matt Moore to the Rangers to clear up payroll, and they got a few prospects to boot.
- The Manny Machado trade rumors are insane, weird, ridiculous, and absurd. And Pinstripe Alley is ready to embrace that absurdity with open, welcoming arms.
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